The Strongest and the Youngest
by doodle12345
Summary: What if during the Cell games Goku hadn't died, and Gohan made the biggest sacrifice.


Fanfic: What if during the fight against cell Goku hadn't died, and Gohan made the biggest Strongest: The Youngest. I do not own Dragon Ball Z.

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><p>Gohan couldn't believe his ears, did his father just ask <em>him <em>to fight Cell? He couldn't really mean that!_ I'm not as strong as my father, did he want me to die?_

"Don't worry Gohan, your stronger than me. Just tell me, did you ever have trouble keeping up with my fight against Cell"? said Goku.

"Well no, but if you'd been fighting at your full potential then I probably wouldn't be able to!" Gohan answered.

"I don't know about Cell, but I was giving it my all. You just thought I wan't because you were comparing my power to your own" Goku concluded.

_Could that be true? I have been keeping up with father in training. If he thinks I can do this, then I will. For the earth, and for my family._

Gohan clenched his fists, preparing himself mentally for what he was about to do. Then he started his descent to Cell._

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><p><strong>Piccolo's Point of View:<strong>

_That bastard! He's sending his own son in there to fight his battle! He's going to sacrifice his own son. And not just anybody, it was Gohan. My first friend, the only person I've ever cared about,the… youngest_.

His teeth and fists clenched as he thought about Gohan fighting Cell.

Over to his right, Krillin and the others were looking horrified, they were still in shock. Surely Goku wasn't making Gohan do this battle. He was just a kid!

Then Goku did the unthinkable. He tossed Cell one of Krillin's Senu Beans. Cell ate this gladly, and Piccolo shifted so he could see Gohan's face and he looked terrified.

Piccolo yelled in fury, "GOKU, IF YOU SEND HIM IN THERE HE IS GOING TO DIE!"

Goku, stubborn as ever, just watched him as his son made his way down to Cell. It took everything Piccolo had not to punch the smile off Goku's face.

_ This is pure torture. I can't watch this._

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><p>Gohan could do this. He had too. The look on Cell's face made Gohan want to run, out of fear, but he held it back. And he tried to focus on the task at hand.<p>

_I've got to stop trembling. My father would be so disappointed in me if he saw it!_

Cell didn't look happy to be faced with a child. If it wasn't his look of disgust, then it was the fact that he was already about to send a powerful disc at Gohan, to finish the battle quickly. Gohan yelped in surprise at it's power, and barely maneuvered away from it.

_He's so fast! I can hardly keep up!_

Gohan felt his eyes widen as he was Cell's fist rush past his eyes and slam into his face. It was a delayed reaction, but Gohan eventually felt the pain.

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><p><strong>Piccolo's Point of View<strong>

_No! The kid is losing! _He could hardly keep his eyes open to watch Gohan get pummeled to the Earth repeatly, but now it was excruciating to watch.

Gohan was literally being crushed to death, and Goku was still smiling.

_He must not care for his kid at all! Look at Gohan screaming! If he's not going to help him, I will. Even if it kills me._

_"_I'm not waiting anymore Goku, I'm saving Gohan". And with that he tried to fly to rescue Gohan.

"No, Piccolo!" Said Goku, restraining his friend from interfering. "Gohan is strong enough, just give him time!"

"He's not like you, Goku. He's just a kid, and unlike you he's not thinking about killing Cell right now. He's too gentle. Even if Gohan has a power hidden inside of him, he won't release it because he's too busy wondering why his own father sent him to die! Look at him Goku, he's an eleven year old boy whose scared and wondering why his father won't save him. He's not ready for this!"

For the first time since the battle started, Goku's smile faded as he pondered what Piccolo said. Something seemed to click in the father's he brow creased with worry as reality hit son's screams of agony were all that filled his head.

"Krillin. Give me a Senu Bean." Goku finally said.

"Sure thing."Before Krillin could toss it, Cell dropped Gohan to the ground and grasped the Senu Beans.

"Wouldn't want any of you cheating and using these now would we? You wanted the boy to fight, and now he is. To the death!"

Cell laughed at this while Goku finally seemed desperate to help his boy. With that he went back to pummeling Gohan, who was now all bloody and broken.

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><p><em>I'm losing. I'm letting everyone down. But I'm in so much pain! I can't do this for much longer!<em>

Gohan let out a gasp as he felt Cell's fist connect with his stomach. His ribs, which were surely already broken, took hard hit and Gohan let out a long scream.

"You're not even making this fun, Gohan" snickered Cell.

"I will." replied Gohan. "I have a power within me that awakens when I'm in trouble. And when I can finally use this power, I'm going to kill you!"

"Oh, really. A hidden power? And just how do i awaken this power? Ah, I think I have an idea."Then he let out mini versions of himself, targeting Gohan's friends and family.

As Gohan watched everyone suffer, something in him snapped. and he felt a surge in power.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

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><p>Piccolo and the others were finally joining in.<p>

Trunks, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Vegeta, and Goku were all hitting Cell with everything they had, and for one reason: they couldn't just watch Gohan struggle for his life all alone.

Although they were barely helping, they still managed to keep coming back, keep fighting.

It all came down to this. Gohan let out his kami hami hai, and Cell did the same. They were struggling, Both were using a move that could potentially destroy the Earth. Unfortunately, Gohan was hurt, so Cell had a huge advantage. Over everything, you could still hear Gohan screaming as he tried to defeat his foe.

The Earth trembled, and so did the warriors. They couldn't bare to lose Gohan. They loved his smile, his attitude, and his gentleness.

The surge from both warriors switched back and forth between the two. And Gohan could feel his power starting to fade. With one last surge, Gohan gave everythinghe had, and felt himself being successful. He felt himself losing consciousness, but he pushed forward.

_There will be plenty of time of rest later. Just a little longer, I'm doing this!"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

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><p>Goku looked wide-eyed at his son as he felt his power, it was truly amazing. He heard Gohan scream, and dust started flying everywhere.<p>

Among Gohan's screams, for the first time, they could hear Cell's too. As Cell faded away, Goku knew that this time it was for good. Gohan had won!

_I'm so proud of you son._

The other fighters finally relaxed and smiled to themselves. They owed everything to the eleven year old kid who had defeated Cell.

All of them struggled to see the kid through the smoke and degree, and finally seeing him, all of them gasped as they looked at him. He was in the air, falling toward the ground.

"GOHAN!" yelled Goku as he tried to get to his son in time. To save him from anymore pain. He missed him and Gohan fell to the ground with a bang that made everyone wince. And for the first time, they all got a good look at the boy. He looked awful.

"Gohan". Goku said rushing over and putting gohan's head in his lap. "Are you alright?"?

There was no answer. Goku searched for his son's pulse, and felt his own heart skip a beat when he felt nothing.

Apparently he was taking too long, because all of the sudden Piccolo had Gohan on the ground and was doing chest compressions. Over and over he tried to resurrect the kid, finally he started beating him on the chest, on the verge of a meltdown. The rest of the warriors weren't faring any better. Most of them just stared at the ground, thinking that it should be anyone but this innocent boy. Goku was starting to cry softly.

_ Picocolo was right. I've killed my own Son! I'lll never be able to forgive myself._

After several seconds went by, a small cough was heard. Looking at the boy, they could see that his eyes were open, squinting at them.

"Gohan, your alive!" cried Piccolo.

"Course I am" chirped Gohan. Piccolo was happy to see Gohan breathing again, but he still needed medical treatment. Picking Gohan up Piccolo starting flying Gohan off the the most logical place: Dendi's Gohan could get the treatment he needed.

The others followed Piccolo, keeping a watchful eye on Gohan the whole way.

"Piccolo, it hurts to breathe" said Gohan.

"I know, we're almost there. We'll get you help just hold on" Piccolo answered.

_This poor kid, he doesn't deserve this, He's saved us all._

Goku, who flew up beside Piccolo asked, "How is he doing"?

"He's in pain, we need to hurry".

Upon arriving at Dendi's place, Piccolo placed Gohan on a table to be examined and took one look at Gohan and immediately his brow creased with worry.

"He really doesn't look good."

"Yeah, but you can save him right?" Goku yelled.

"Hopefully." Dendi that, Dendi started the long process of healing Gohan whie the other Z fighters looked on with a worried eye.

He immediately had to toss the remainder of Gohan's shirt aside to have a look at his abdomen, which seemed to be looking the worst. He wrapped the injured boy up until he looked like a mummy and only then did the green boy allow Picoolo,Goku and the others to visit with Gohan.

Gohan had a grimace on his face, signs that even in unconsciousness he was in pain.

Looking at Gohan many thoughts were running through the warriors heads.

_Goku thought: I can't believe that my son is in so much pain, and all because of me! I wish I'd had enough power to destroy Cell myself, and if I did, I promise you son that I would have neverput you in this position. It should be me on this table. Not a little boy. I know i put too much pressure on you, but it's only because I believe in you. You're such an easy person to relyon, and now i realize that I've taken you for granted. Instead of relying on you, I should have tried harder beating Cell myself. I'm just so sorry son. _

Goku took Gohan's bandaged hand in his, but when Gohan winced at this small movement, Goku quickly and gently laid it back down wear it was. With tears in his eyes.

Piccolo wasn't faring better than Goku. He was wondering what else could've been done, what he could've done to prevent this. Anything but this. He didn't know what would happen to him if he didn't have Gohan around.

The boy brought out the good in him, he'd made him a softie. Especially when it came to him.

_I'm so sorry Gohan. I wish there was something I could do. Anything, I promise I would do it. Your my best friend, and you always saw the good in me. And every time you showed interest in being like me, I was so happy. So happy that you would actually look up to me. Your like…. the son I never had. And I'm so sorry that you're suffering alone._

Finished with these sad thoughts, Piccolo turned away from Gohan to compose himself. He wasn't supposed to care so much. He'd like to blame it on the fusion with Kami, but he knew that he'd cared for the kid long before that. It hadn't taken long at all, Gohan had that effect on people. He just didn't know how to handle watching Gohan in pain.

Krillin just didn't know how to handle this. He wasn't used to losing people that he cared about. The kid meant so much to him.

_Gohan. We've had so much fun together. And now, when your in pain, I can't do anything! I wish I could, but all of you have surpassed me. Your definitely the strongest, and when you get better, Goku, you and me are going to go fishing. Just like before Cell, when everything was calm and right. I promise. Just hang in there._

After long thoughts and heavy hearts, Gohan sighed and the others could tell that he was slowly gaining consciousness.

"Gohan! Gohan, can you hear me?" Goku cried.

"Dadd.. Daddy? Where am I? What's going on? Where's Cell? Gohan said.

"Your at Kami's place" answered Piccolo, "And everything is going to be fine. You defeated Cell."

Dendi, realizing that Gohan was awake, came back inside to examine the boy. He placed his small green fingers lightly on Gohan's side, and Gohan immediately cringed away from the touch. Dendi didn't look pleased at this.

"It seems to be getting worse. And I think I know that problem. You've healed way to fast for your bones to have healed properly. I think I'm going to have to rebreak them".

Everyone in the room gasped. Their youngest warrior was suffering so much, it was unbearable.

"I'm going to need everyone to leave except two people to help hold Gohan down."

Goku and Piccolo were the obvious choice, so the other warriors unwillingly left Gohan's side to provide more space for the operation. They didn't want to hear Gohan in agony anyways.

"Piccolo, please hold Gohan's legs. And Goku, his arms. Yes like that".

Goku could hardly stand it. He was staring right into the eyes of Gohan, and all he could see was fear. He looked just like he did…. when he was fighting Cell.

_I'm doing it again. I'm causing him pain. But this time, sorry Gohan, but it's necessary._

"Dad, I don't want to do this. Can't we wait?

"I wish we could, but you'll feel better after this is done" Goku answered.

"Daddy, don't leave me" Gohan's eyes filled with tears of terror.

"Don't worry kid, we're not going anywhere" Piccolo said in a encouraging tone, despite what he was feeling.

_Just hold on kid. I know this is going to hurt._

"Please hold him down tightly." Dendi stated, and then he placed his hands on Gohans side. Immediantly, Gohan moaned in pain. Finding an incorrect bone,Dendi used his strength to snap the bone.

"AHHHHHH!"

The scream was terrifying. And utterly dreadful.

"That's it son, your okay. You're going to be fine. Just hold on a little longer."

"But daddy, it hurts!"Gohan was struggling in Piccolo's and Goku's arms unsuccessfully.

"Just stop struggling Gohan, that makes it more painful" Piccolo yelled."

I CAN'T! PLEASE STOP"! Gohan yelled as Dendi snapped another screams could be heard by everyone, and they all winced in horror.

"Just one more Gohan" Dendi said. Gohan started putting up quite a fight against Piccolo and Goku, despite the weakened state he was in. He was, after all, the strongest personon the planet.

"Gohan, relax, just relax. Stop fighting. You can do this" Goku said.

"AHHHH!"

"Gohan! Do you remember that time I took you to my favorite apple tree and you, your mom and I went on a picnic? Well, just imagine that. Imagine that you're there with us, because you will be soon!"

With the last of the bones rebroken, Dendi started wrapping up Gohan with the help of Piccolo.

Goku was busy whispering more words of encouragementin the young boy's was finally over. Gohan could now rest in peace. He had saved the planet.

"I'm sorry I put you in this position, Gohan, my son".

"Don't be. We got him."

"I love you son"

"Love you too dad"

And then Gohan drifted off into a deep sleep with all the Z fighters at his side, amazed at how much the kid had grown. He was practically a man already. And they all loved him.

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><p>The end. I know it's not the best. Read and reply. If theres missing words in places, it's because of my stupid computer. It changed the format when I put it here. :p<p> 


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